1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an athletic glove and, more particularly, to an anti-slip glove having a palm portion for gripping and a back portion made of an elastic material for an improved overall fit, especially for use in conjunction with various athletic activities which require both good fit and an anti-slip function.
2. Description of Related Art
Athletic gloves are widely used for various kinds of sports, including golf, baseball (batting), American football, tennis and racquetball, to cover and thereby protect the human hand from injury, cold weather, etc. Athletic gloves used in these various sports are typically made of a very thin, supple material, such as natural leather or polyurethane artificial leather. Though often worn for protection only, these gloves if properly designed are believed to be essential to enhance athletic performance, with one of the most essential characteristics of an athletic glove being gripping ability.
Basically, athletic gloves offer hand protection along with an enhancement of athletic performance through increased gripping ability. Increased gripping is the intended main effect of any athletic glove. However, increased gripping ability at the cost (trade off) of reduced sensitivity and/or flexibility due to a poor fit is undesirable. Therefore, a better fit, one which retains high flexibility and sensitivity while providing increased gripping ability, is necessary for an improved athletic glove.
A contemporary athletic glove provided with an anti-slip function is wholly made out of a natural or artificial leather. Such material imparts an improved gripping ability, i.e., a high friction coefficient, to the palm side of the glove.
During an act of gripping a golf club, baseball bat or the like using such an athletic glove, the palm side of the glove, being largely comprised of the palm portion but possibly including a thumb portion or related gussets, is gathered in the palm when gripping. In doing so, the back side of the glove, being largely comprised of the back portion but possibly including fourchettes or related gussets, is stretched conversely with respect to the gathering on the palm side and is thereby forced to cover a greater distance along the outer circumference of the backs of the knuckles. That is, in an anti-slip glove exercising its gripping ability, the outer circumferential distance, extending over and lengthwise along the knuckles of the back of the hand, is increased such that the glove back material is drawn taut over the entire back side of the hand and the glove becomes uncomfortable due to a poor fit. Moreover, the tautness of the material of the back side, resulting from the total lack of elasticity in the material, interferes with the gripping action of the glove on the palm side and destroys sensitivity, by exerting unnatural pressure on the hand and distorting the natural gripping action.
To improve the fit, there have been attempts to make the leather material very thin, for example, less than 0.4 mm, in order to restore some degree of flexibility to the glove. Thinner leathers also serve to reduce weight and thereby improve sensitivity. In doing so, however, the glove becomes too weak and lacks the necessary durability. Moreover, leather is not a breathable material; and while holes may be provided to relieve this problem somewhat, the achieved effect is poor and the other problems remain.
Therefore, spandex (i.e., an elastic fiber made of, for example, a synthetic polymer of polyurethane) has been suggested as a solution to the above-described problems of fit in athletic gloves. Spandex, however, provides no anti-slip characteristics. In fact, gloves made of such material provide even less gripping ability than the bare hand.
In essence, mutually exclusive characteristics exist between the spandex material, which cannot provide adequate gripping ability, and the leather material, which cannot provide adequate flexibility. Therefore, there is a substantial need for an athletic glove having an improved fit together with anti-slip characteristics.